Safety Precautions Can Be Extra Challenging for Those with MS

Living through the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult for everyone. However, it is certainly more challenging and stressful for anyone with a health complication, especially MS. In particular, quarantine and some safety precautions come with unique challenges for those with MS.

To hear more about how the MS community is handling COVID-19 protective measures, we asked our Facebook community: “What safety precautions have you found to be the most challenging with MS?”

More than 100 community members weighed in. Here is what you had to say. Continue reading

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Out of Sight – Not So Out of Mind

Visual disorders are among the list of hidden symptoms associated with MS. Challenges with eyesight are typically considered early symptoms of MS. You could walk by a stranger on the street, and you would never know that they have MS. Hidden symptoms of MS are just that, hidden from the world. However, they are very real experiences for MS warriors. Out of sight is not always so out of mind for MS fighters. Continue reading

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Abracadabra

By Doug Ankerman

Nothing up my sleeve! It is magic I tell ya!

Magic how a disease like multiple sclerosis works from the inside-out. Hiding your symptoms from those around you.

MS uses deceptive tricks to mask your illness, prompting some to ask the dreaded, cringe-worthy question… Continue reading

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What the MS?

By Scott Cremeans

One of the most significant issues with multiple sclerosis is the many hidden symptoms that lead to accusatory statements. The invisibility of these MS issues means that many times others do not see, perceive, or believe that they even exist. The two primarily posed comments are you do not look sick; you must be fine or, I know someone with MS, and they do not complain like that. These statements drive MSers insane and can cause us to stand our ground in defense vociferously.

I have been a member of several local MS support groups and currently Continue reading

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Brownie Cookie – Recipe of the Month

This brownie cookie recipe is one of my favorites. It turns out deliciously fudgy and chewy. You use a brownie box mix and in just about 15 minutes you will be enjoying these delightful treats. With only four simple ingredients, it hopefully will become a favorite in your household too!

Ingredients Continue reading

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Hidden and Invisible Problems with Multiple Sclerosis

Explaining Hidden and Invisible Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

By Penelope Conway

How do you explain the hidden and invisible problems with multiple sclerosis?

Every week when the nurse comes to my house I’m always asked the same questions. Am I experiencing any pain? What kind of pain? How does it feel? How’s my appetite? Bowel movements? Swallowing troubles? Breathing? It takes the entire visit to explain everything. Pain shifts moment by moment from Continue reading

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Shh, I have a secret

By Lauren Kovacs

Those secret symptoms wreak havoc and party hard in our body. They high five each other as they go to torture some part of us. I swear there is some kind of party in my left arm involving fire.

It is not a calm “kumbaya” bonfire. It is more like a concert with pyrotechnics and lava. Every night the burning visits me, like a ghost. It sneaks up on me. It lights my Continue reading

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Knowledge of MS Progression is its Own Invisible Symptom

By Stacie Prada

Many health conditions and symptoms are never seen by others and remain unknown to the people in our lives until we talk about them. Even then, what our friends and family members see and what we tell them don’t match. The disparity between how we look and how we feel makes it hard for others to believe it’s as much of an issue as we say.

Some of my invisible symptoms are widely shared by many people with multiple sclerosis. There’s fatigue, Continue reading

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Some things aren’t easy to see

When it comes to MS symptoms, there is a real variety in what individuals experience. This is one of the reasons why making an MS diagnosis is so challenging. Its symptoms can look different from person to person. No two people have the same MS disease course. This can make it hard to understand exactly how the condition impacts someone. Its uniqueness acts as a detriment at times when trying to explain or educate others about MS. It is assumed that symptoms will look the same and that outcomes will match, but this is not always the case.

One of the most common symptoms of MS can be cognitive challenges. This wasn’t always Continue reading

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Invisible but VERY Real: Heat Intolerance

By Alene Brennan

It’s been four years since I was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting MS.

I remember the doctor asking me if I had a sensitivity to heat in that appointment.

YES!

Finally, I got validation for Continue reading

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